American Households Reporting Fewer Financial Hardships

There is good news in the arena of household finances and economic struggles. The Trouble Tracker Index from Consumer Reports indicates that the last month has recorded a substantial improvement. This index has reached its lowest point since it started reporting with a 34.0 reading for the last month. Compared to last month’s 41.7, this is a significant improvement. Americans with an annual income under $50,000 were the ones seeing the most improvement, while those over $100,000 also saw some improvement.

The employment measures also show an increase in hiring, with gains outweighing the losses for a third consecutive reporting period. Workers with a high school education or better saw an increase in new jobs during the last month. These financial improvements may have directly contributed to the retail reporting improvements showing an end to the four consecutive months of declines with a small increase of a half of a point. Seasonal retail may be partially contributing to this improvement. If fewer financial hardships have you entering the home buying market, call Cary Amo at Sotheby’s Real Estate in California.